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The present invention generally relates to the discovery of a new dental floss ribbon with frilly edges, henceforth named frilly floss, a toilet article used to promote dental hygiene by brushing, cleaning and massaging inter-dental spaces of any shape or size.
The present invention filter relates to manufacture of a novel frilly dental floss ribbon having excellent cleaning/plaque removing capability and which is made from an inexpensive plastic polymer preferably from a biodegradable plastic such as high-density polyethylene (HDPE) plastic material
Another object of the present invention relates to the discovery of a wide but thin, yet reasonably firm textured floss which is capable of smooth and easy glide into narrowest of dental spaces between the teeth.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a frilly dental ribbon as described and disclosed in this document, which is also capable of filling wide inter-dental pockets, created due to damage of papillary gum tissue or otherwise, to assure quick and proper removal of particles lodged therein.
More particularly the present invention provides a frilly dental floss, with angularly cut edges or centrally located conical slits or combination thereof, as described and disclosed in this document, which is designed to provide easy and unforced entry of floss between inter-dental spaces with minimum proclivity to damage the inter-dental papilla or any part of the gum tissue.
Last but not the least, still another object of the present invention is to provide a dental floss which provides quick and effective brushing and cleaning between the teeth with minimum motion and no special dexterity
According to the dental topography, a tooth has two parts; the upper exposed part called crown and the lower root, which is fixed in the gum tissue. Teeth are closely joined together at the crown part leaving a narrow space between them (usually between 0.025 mm to 0.125 mm), but at the gum line, the tapered base of the crown creates a relatively larger space between teeth, which is occupied by the papillary gum tissue (FIG. 2.1). As a result of aging or any kind of gum disease due to the formation of the plaque or tarter, the gum tissues between teeth as well as surrounding the teeth begin to recede and creates more or less a triangular cavity, narrow at the upper sides of the crowns and broad at the gum line. (FIG. 2.2) Tooth-brush generally can not reach such spaces between the teeth but appropriate dental floss or inter dental cleaners are capable of providing cleanliness for such inter dental spaces.
Plaque is the sticky material that develops on the exposed portions of the teeth, consisting of materials such as bacteria, mucus, and food debris. Unremoved plaque eventually mineralizes into a hard deposit called tarter. Formation of plaque and tarter is the main cause of tooth decay and periodontal diseases. Periodontal disease is an infection of the gum tissue surrounding and supporting the teeth. It has been found that, three out of four adults after the age of 35 are affected by some form of gum disease, which is caused by plaque or tarter. Gingivitis, an acute form of gum disease, if treated in its early stage is reversible and can usually be eliminated by daily flossing the teeth.
Dental floss is an inter-dental cleaning article used for dislodging any foreign particle or fiber or food debris from the inter-dental spaces. Conventional dental flosses are usually made up of single or plurality of filaments, which are strands and wind as spools to make a one continuous string. The manufacture of such flosses has often been a lengthy and complicated process. Thickness and small width of the fiber are some of the major drawbacks, which limit effectiveness of such flosses. Many such flosses made from natural or polymeric material are in the form of continuous strands or tape which are very strong but somewhat elastic and hence can be stretched into thinner diameter especially during flossing when user applies force to glide it down between the teeth. This force of action, if applied without great dexterity, can cause the sharpened floss to hit the soft gum tissue with a sudden force causing great discomfort to the user and may injure the gum tissues.
Another drawback with some of the conventional dental floss and their nature to bulk is, when user tries to stretch and force the floss down from upper narrow space to the lower broad space between the teeth, it makes floss very thin. This thinned floss may pass through upper part of the teeth but once it reaches the bottom it can not fill the bottom large space between the teeth and is thus unable to clean the space effectively unless user moves the floss back and forth several times between the teeth. This sawing with the floss to dislodge the food debris may be very harmful and damaging to the tooth at the cementoenamel junction interproximally and may also be damaging to the inter dental papillary gum tissue filing the gingival embrasures, which are shown in FIG. 2.1. The conventional threaded dental floss or their later improved versions such as bristled dental floss or tape type dental flosses are composed of such material, which require lengthy, skilled and often expensive way of manufacturing. The thickness and the fashion of their composition of many improved versions of flosses invented till today, i.e. Eaton, II, U.S. Pat. No., 4,265,258, issued in 1981, Lloyd, U.S. Pat. No. 5,063,948 issued in 1991, Wolak, U.S. Pat. No. 4,836,226 issued in 1989, Thornton, U.S. Pat. No. 4,277,297 issued in 1981, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,450,849 issued in 1984 to Cerceo, et al., have similar drawbacks and may cause injury and/or bleeding of the gum tissue.
In addition to expensive manufacturing and damage or discomfort which might be caused by such thick dental flosses, another disadvantage has been the insufficiency of cleaning capacity caused, at least in part, by smaller width and smooth surface of the dental floss, (Eaton, II, U.S. Pat. No., 4,265,258, issued in 1981, Lloyd, U.S. Pat. No. 5,063,948 issued in 1991, Wolak, U.S. Pat. No. 4,836,226 issued in 1989, Thornton, U.S. Pat. No. 4,277,297 issued in 1981, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,450,849 issued in 1984 to Cerceo, et al).
Inventing a tape like dental floss as claimed in the U.S. Pat. No. 4,450,849 issued in 1984 to Cerceo, et al., is in a way improvement but such solution has been inadequate due to difficulty in providing such floss with fine thin texture to be able to pass between closely spaced teeth and in spite of lot of sawing movement of the floss, it still has insufficient cleaning capacity for large inter-dental pockets created as a result of aging and/or due to periodontitis.
Bristled dental floss U.S. Pat. No. 5,063.948 issued to Lloyd, in which inventor utilized multi-filament strand with bristles secured on it by knots. Securing bristles on body of the floss requires a great deal of workmanship, which seems difficult and expensive. The floss and the bristles both require additional stiffening and waxing. Besides, this invention does not improve on the thickness and the diameter of the floss over the conventional flosses and will be difficult to glide through the narrow spaces between the teeth and moreover it cannot fill the large inter-dental spaces.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,265,258 issued to Eaton, II, has similar feature as of Lloyd except that the bristles are not secured on the main strand of the floss by knot. Floss is rather thick, due to multitude of fibers, which are either overlaid or twisted upon each other with a number of fiber ends extending beyond the main body of the floss. Manufacturing of such floss again seems to be tedious and expensive and it has no greater advantage over conventional dental flosses. The length of the extended fiber is very small and they might not be able to provide enough force to dislodge the debris from inter dental spaces between the teeth.
While the foregoing remedial steps have helped in facilitating the flossing to some extent but they have not eliminated or reduced all the drawbacks of the conventional dental flosses. Accordingly, what is needed is a dental floss which is easy to manufacture, quickly and effectively cleans, brushes and massages all shapes and sizes of inter-dental spaces, does not need sawing action to dislodge debris and yet is thin enough to glide down the narrowest spaces between the teeth without applying lot of force or pressure so as to save the soft gum tissue from possible injury.
In fulfillment and implementation of previously recited objects, a primary feature of present invention resides in the provision of a novel dental floss ribbon with frilly edge(s) henceforth called frilly dental floss, which is simple of construction and economical of manufacture. Present frilly floss is a flat thin ribbon made from a non-toxic, naturally waxy plastic polymer, which provides a great combination of strength and economics. The plastic polymer may be further reinforced with strands or thin strips of polymers, when desired.
The frilly floss of the present invention is named so because its edge(s) are cut open into thin strips or similar structures, continually or otherwise, and through the entire length of the floss ribbon. These special angularly cut edges, which may be associated with central small angular slits or centrally located small holes, are important novel features of said invention, and provide a brushing action in the inter dental spaces by providing a safe, gentle quick and effective way to dislodge debris by trapping them into their angular sockets or holes, irrespective of shape or size or width of the dental spaces to be cleaned. The dental floss of present invention thus requires minimum motion (no sawing of the floss) and no special dexterity for cleaning inter-dental spaces. Our thin gauge frilly dental floss is cut in the form of a ribbon with frilly edges invented purposely to provide easy and unforced entry of floss between inter-dental spaces with minimum proclivity to damage the inter-dental papillary gum tissue or any part thereof, while still providing quick and effective brushing and cleaning between the teeth. Another characteristic feature of the present invention lies in its being a ribbon with frilly edge(s) (and not a string) which is capable of filling wide inter-dental pockets, created due to receding papillary gum tissue, to assure quick and proper removal of particles lodged therein.
Our invention provides an easy manufacturing of a novel dental floss article having a completely novel method of cleaning efficiently the spaces of any shape or size between teeth without damaging the soft gum tissue. In addition, the present invention provides a simple, naturally waxy yet gripable, fine textured and last but not the least biodegradable dental floss with its efficient method for smoothly brushing, massaging and cleaning inter-dental spaces. These and other objects and features of the present invention will become more fully apparent from the following description and appended claims, or may be learned by the practice of the invention as set forth hereinafter.